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The Prince And The Pauper (1937) DVDRip (SiRiUs sHaRe)

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The Prince And The Pauper (1937)

On the same day two boys are born: the pauper Tom and prince Edvard. As a kid, Tom sneaks into the palace garden and meet the prince. They change clothes with each other but the guards discover them and throw out the prince, since they are almost identical. Nobody believe them when they try to tell the truth. Soon after, the old king dies and the prince will inherit the throne.

* This film is encoded with a low resolution which really irritates me because I can not find a better copy anywhere! In fact I have a whole bunch of Errol Flynn movies I have been reluctant to release because they are ALL filmed in low res. If anyone can up these in higher res, I would really appreciate it as I love the Flynn movies! *

Errol Flynn ... Miles Hendon
Claude Rains ... Earl of Hertford
Henry Stephenson ... Duke of Norfolk
Barton MacLane ... John Canty
Billy Mauch ... Tom Canty (as The Mauch Twins)
Robert J. Mauch ... Prince Edward (as The Mauch Twins)
Alan Hale ... Captain of the Guard
Eric Portman ... First Lord
Lionel Pape ... Second Lord
Leonard Willey ... Third Lord
Murray Kinnell ... Hugo
Halliwell Hobbes ... Archbishop
Phyllis Barry ... Barmaid

Director: William Keighley / William Dieterle (Uncredited)

Runtime: 118 mins

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029440/

Codecs:

Video : 670 MB, 796 Kbps, 29.970 fps, 352*240 (4:3), DIV3 = DivX v3 ;-) MPEG-4 (Low-Motion),
Audio : 80 MB, 95 Kbps, 44100 Hz, 2 channels, 0x55 = MPEG Layer-3, VBR,

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Watching a movie like this is like returning to a much-loved home: tattered townspeople with cor-blimey accents mingle in a suspiciously clean-looking olde-worlde England, bad guys wear their badness on their sleeve for everyone to see, and the screen is filled with reassuringly familiar character actors. Hollywood historical adventures of the thirties - you just can't go wrong.

The Mauch twins are so alike you tend to think you're watching one actor playing two parts, but, in today's effects-heavy climate, the decision to use twins rather than Freddie Bartholomew in a dual role (and no doubt utilizing split-screen techniques that would look distinctly dodgy today)can be seen to be a wise one.

Director Keighley maintains a brisk pace throughout, and elicits a suitably dashing performance from a young Errol Flynn who, although top-billed, does not appear until the film is nearly half over. If you're a fan of old movies you'll love this one, and if you're not you just might be converted.

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In 1937, the WB, capitalizing on Errol Flynn's spectacular performances in CAPTAIN BLOOD and THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, cast him in four films, with varying degrees of success. The best, by far, was William Keighley and William Dieterle's production of the Mark Twain classic, THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, where he supported new WB 'discoveries' Billy and Bobby Mauch, portraying London urchin Tom Canty and his look-alike, Prince Edward Tudor. The twins were gifted, young (12 at the time of the filming) actors, with a Freddie Bartholomew-like quality of engaging innocence, and they gave this version of the oft-filmed tale a sense of reality that split-screen performances by a single actor could never achieve.

The story is an engaging one, as young Canty, inspired by his mother and a local priest to dream of a finer life than his father, an ill-tempered beggar (Barton MacLane) could provide, sneaks onto the grounds of Buckingham Palace. There, he meets young Prince Edward, who is thrilled to meet a boy his own age...and, after cleaning him up a bit, is astonished to discover that the pair could pass as twins. Edward decides this is a golden opportunity to see what life outside the Palace is really like, so, against Canty's misgivings, the two exchange clothing, and the Prince leaves...creating far more of an uproar than either boy could ever imagine!

Canty is soon considered 'mad', as he insists he is not Edward, and the Prince, abused and ridiculed by Tom's father, is unceremoniously thrown off the Palace grounds when he attempts to return, by a disbelieving Captain of the Guards (Alan Hale, in the first of 11 films he'd make with his friend, Errol Flynn). The ambitious Earl of Hertford (the always brilliant Claude Rains) investigates Canty's claim, and realizes, after interviewing the Captain, that the boy is telling the truth, giving him a golden opportunity to seize power. Ordering the Captain to find and kill the Prince, the Earl then threatens to kill Canty if he doesn't obey his commands.

Things grow desperate for the young Prince, as he attempts to evade his murderous 'father' on the streets, until Miles Hendon (Flynn), a roguish but good-natured 'soldier-for-hire' comes to his aid. Offering his protection to the lad, Hendon thinks him a bit balmy, as well...until events (the child's obvious despair over the death of Henry VIII, the Palace search party, and a sword duel with the Captain, where Flynn KILLS Alan Hale!!!) convince him otherwise. Then it becomes a race against time to smuggle the real King into the Coronation, before Canty is crowned, and the Earl assumes "the Power behind the Throne".

Blessed with a gifted cast, including wonderful character actor Montagu Love as the dying Henry VIII, the film offers a truly exceptional film score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (who would eventually expand the theme into a symphonic work). Audiences have always been surprised that Errol Flynn's role is not larger, but as a faithful Twain adaptation, the focus had to be on the two boys, and not on the impoverished soldier. Flynn had fun playing Hendon, and the Mauch twins were nothing less than superb as the leads.

With THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD less than a year away, and Errol Flynn's star continuing to ascend, the WB had every reason to celebrate, and THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER is a pleasure to watch, to this day!

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The reign of Edward VI of England would be little remembered if it not were for the writing of this story by an American of all people, Mark Twain. In point of fact Edward Tudor ascended the English throne in 1547, the son of Henry VIII and died six years later, not even reaching his maturity. His reign, such as it was, was marked by a struggle for power by several factions of nobles. That story can be seen in the films Young Bess and also in Lady Jane. There was no happily ever after endings for young Tudor.

At first glance it wouldn't seem possible that Samuel Langhorne Clemens of Hannibal, Missouri could write a classic tale about medieval England. But thinking about it, is the poverty and young Tom Canty's dealing with it in Offal Court all that different from Huckleberry Finn? Is his father, a coarse and brutal man beautifully played by Barton MacLane, all that different from Huck Finn's pap?

Twain knew his characters well and it he had any trouble with getting the idiom just right he need only have looked to Charles Dickens who was writing about just such people a generation before.

The story is simply that Tom Canty, a beggar boy from Offal Court in London gets into the palace of the king and meets up with young Prince Edward. They look alike enough to be twins and in fact they are played by twin brothers Billy and Bobby Mauch. They exchange places and the switch works only too well.

Top billed in the film is Errol Flynn who plays the fictional Miles Hendon, soldier of fortune just returned from the continent. Flynn was the biggest name in the cast, but the film is half over before he makes his appearance. In point of fact, he's really in support of the Mauch twins. It's Flynn's third appearance with sword in hand for Warner Brothers after Captain Blood and Charge of the Light Brigade.

This film also marks Flynn's first film with Alan Hale who appeared in eleven films with Errol. A film wasn't official at Warner Brothers unless either Alan Hale or Frank McHugh was in it. Jack Warner kept both those guys real busy.

Also in the film are Henry Stephenson and Claude Rains who play competing nobles vying to be top man in their minority monarch's reign. As I said unfortunately that marked Edward VI's entire time on England's throne.

But we have Mark Twain in his classic story and the brothers Warner to thank for bringing Edward VI's story to life for generations to come. I wonder if during his short life, young Edward might really have wished to escape what he had, even if it meant a place like Offal Court.

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* Freddie Bartholomew was originally considered for the central dual role. Instead, real-life twins Billy Mauch and 'Mauch, Bobby' were hired.

* MGM bought the rights to Mark Twain's novel in 1935 for $100,000, but never filmed the story. Eventually, Warner Bros. secured the rights.

* The coronation scene was on a set that duplicated Westminster Abbey and took seven days to shoot.

* William Dieterle filled in as director when William Keighley got the flu. Similarly, cinematographer George Barnes took over as director of photography when Sol Polito fell ill.

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